A first draft of a code of conduct for behavior in the disputed South China Sea has been completed, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday, adding tension in the waterway had eased notably.
The Philippines' top diplomat said Tuesday it remains to be seen whether China will cooperate fully in ongoing efforts to craft a legally binding pact designed to prevent aggressive behavior in the disputed South China Sea.
Vietnam resolutely opposes and rejects China’s new regulations on a fishing break at sea, Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Le Hai Binh has said.
Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) noted the importance of sustaining the momentum of dialogue in easing the tensions in the disputed South China Sea, the Philippines' top diplomat said on Tuesday.
The United States called in late 2015 for a halt to China's artificial island-building, and in recent weeks has tried to signal its determination to challenge Beijing over the disputed sea by sending military ships and planes near the islands.
Vietnam is often described as the most assertive opponent of China’s expansion into the 3.5 million-square-km sea since around 2010. It competes with China to reclaim land in the Spratly chain and has criticized Beijing’s control of the Paracel Islands, which lie east of Vietnam and southwest of Hong Kong.
Michael Flynn, the national security adviser to President Trump, resigned late Monday over revelations about his potentially illegal contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States, and his misleading statements about the matter to senior Trump administration officials.
China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday warned Washington against challenging its sovereignty, responding to reports the United States was planning fresh naval patrols in the disputed South China Sea.
The South China Sea could heat up as the year goes on.
WASHINGTON: A US Navy P-3 plane and a Chinese military aircraft came close to each other over the South China Sea in an incident the Navy believes was inadvertent, a US official told Reuters on Thursday.
A Chinese bank branch established in the so-called Sansa city on Phu Lam island in Vietnam’s Hoang Sa archipelago is illegal, stated Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Le Hai Binh.
